Single-contact and multiple-contact electrical connector systems are widely used for many household and industrial applications. Typically, such connector systems include a plug and a compatible receptacle, each of which includes or can accept installation of one or more electrical contacts which are interconnected when the plug is mated with the receptacle. Plug and receptacle housings are provided so as to isolate the electrical contacts from each other and from the environment, position them in alignment with each other, and maintain the contacts in secure connection with each other when the connectors are mated. The contacts can be integral with the housings, or they can be installable into the housings, so that a given housing system can accept a plurality of types and arrangements of contacts. Often, a latching mechanism is included with the housings so as to avoid inadvertent separation of the plug from the receptacle.
Electrical connectors are subject to various standards and requirements, depending on their intended usages. In particular, there are many standards and practical considerations that apply specifically, if not uniquely, to connectors used in the solar power industry, since solar power connectors are often located on rooftops, on towers, or in other locations with limited access, and are frequently exposed to sunlight, debris, rain, and other outdoor environmental conditions. It is not uncommon, for example, for a worker to be wearing gloves and/or to have one hand otherwise occupied while attempting to release a pair of mated solar power electrical connector. However, standards are currently pending that will require mated solar power connectors to be releasable from each other only through the use of a tool, thereby making it difficult to release such connectors using only one hand and/or while wearing gloves.
What is needed, therefore, is an electrical power connector housing system that requires a tool for release of mated connectors, inhibits contamination by debris and rain while connected, and can be released using one hand and/or while wearing gloves.